Brothers
by That Weird Girl You All Know
Summary: Even when one did something completely and utterly stupid, they would still be brothers through it all. Modern!AU, One-shot


Brothers

Disclaimer: I don't own RA or any of its characters, I only own this plot

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"Ow!" Will winced, glaring heatedly at Horace who had a nonchanlant look on his face. "Hold still." he mummered and continued wiping at Will's bloodied and bruised cheek. Will bit back a heated retort and clenched the fabric of his pants with the hand that wasn't stopping blood from flowing out his nose. Will knew he was already on thin ice with his brother. Saying anything right now would be signing his own death warrant.

But even with that logic, Will was still feeling effects of adrenaline pumping through his system. So having an arguement with Horace actually sounded appealing to him. Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on how you wanted to look at it, Horace initiated the argument both desired having at the moment.

"What is wrong with you?" Horace asked angrily, pulling away from Will and tossing the bloodied towel into the bathroom sink. Will frowned. "I should be asking that. Why were keeping quiet about this?" The shorter teen asked. Horace glared and braced his hand on the sink.

"Don't turn this on me, Will, because I'm not the one who went to fight three sophmores that were twice my size!"

"No, but you are the one letting them push you around!"

"It's not even like that! Know the whole story before you charge into things, you arse!"

"I do know and don't you dare try to justify this!"

Will gritted his teeth in annoyance. How could Horace be this dense? Seriously, didn't he see that this was wrong?

Both Will and Horace were freshmans in highschool. Horace had immediately joined the rugby team since he was the more sporty of the two brothers. Couple of weeks after he joined, however, he started acting...off. He became a lot more distant and his grades were suffering. A lot. Will had heard too many arguements between Horace and their mother, Natalie, over the subject.

At first, Will thought maybe juggling sports and school work they were used to was putting a strain on Horace. So, he tried many times to convince his brother to leave the team but then that sparked heated disputes between them. Eventually, Will gave up but he never stopped worrying.

As a result, Will started visiting his after school practices, playing the supportive brother card. He even waited outside the boys locker room. Nothing odd ever happened. Well, at least until his first game. It was really a miracle Horace even got to play due to his grades but somehow he pulled it off.

Sadly, the game didn't end in Horace's team's favor. They eneded up losing by couple of points. Nonetheless, Natalie still wanted to celebrate with Horace back at home. Horace had agreed and left to go change into his normal clothes. Will had tried to follow, not immediately so he didn't look like a creep, but his mother had somehow convinced him otherwise.

So, they waited.

Five minutes passed.

The fifteen.

Then twenty-five.

Officially worried, Will and his mother asked his teammates, who where leaving with their own families, if he was still in the locker room.

They said they never saw him even come in the locker room.

Panicked, Natalie immediately notified the teachers and coaches and they all began searching for the missing boy. Almost a full hour later, Will had found his brother behind the school, but not in a healthly state.

Horace, stripped of all his rugby gear, was bruised and bloodied and barely conscious.

Will could stilll recall the feelings he had over seeing Horace like that. Anger, confusion, fear, anxiety...

Somehow, Willl managed to drag his brother near the school enough to yell for help and attract the teachers of the adults. Horace was instantly taken to the hospital. When Horace had woken up, Natalie asked who had done this to him and swore to press charges. Horace had calmed her down and told her it wasn't nessacary.

Apprantlently, Horace had been mouthing off to players of the opposing rugby team and instagated the whole fight. Natalie had given him an earful, swearing and truly aggrvated. Eventually, she calmed down and ended up tearfully hugging her son.

When the staff of the school heard Horace's side of the story, they suspended him from the team until further notice. Or at least he got his behavior and academics sorted out.

Everyone believed him.

Except Will.

Deep inside, Will knew Horace was petty enough to fight someone over a lost game. But he had no proof and if he asked Horace about it, he knew that would be another fight between them. Will had came to the conclusion his brother was being bullied. By who and why he had no idea. All he knew was it had to be someone from Horace's team.

Then Zachary came along.

He was another freshman, Will had seen him at the game and at the practices. The kid was tall and quite lanky, but had a good amount of muscle on him. Will had been on his way to his next class when he was pulled into the boy's bathroom.

Will had spun around, ready to chew out whoever pulled him in here when he saw his face. The poor guy was a nervous wreck. he was fidgeting all over the place, sweating, and his eyes darted around nervously. Before Will could even ask if he was ok, Zachary began talking at a rapid rate.

"It's Alda!"

Will blinked in confusion at the taller boy. "Alda?" Will repeated and Zachary nodded frantically. "Your brother's been terrorized by Alda, Jerome, and Bryn since he made the rugby team. I-I'm sorry I haven't said anything but those guys t-they're real nightmares to be around. Alda's practically got the whole team's mouth sewed shut."

Will felt his heartbeat increase as his face flushed in anger. In that moment there were a lot of things he wanted to do and _say_ at that exact moment. But all that came out was-

"Oh."

"L-l-look could you not let anyone know I told you this? School's gonna get a lot worse for me if you do. Just-I dunno-"

Will held up a hand to stop him. "Yeah, it's cool. Don't worry about it...and thanks." Will muttered. Zachary calmed down after he had said that and left without another word. Will soon followed after he managed to get himself under control.

For the rest of that day, Will was quiet. He didn't really talk to anybody or participate in class unless absolutely necessary. His mind was swirling with so many thoughts and emotions that he knew that anything would set him. Keeping to himself was the only option.

An option that failed him miserably when school ended. He had just exited the school when he saw him.

Alda. The bastard who was no doubt putting his brother through hell times infinity was just chatting with his buds, laughing quite obnoxiously like nothing was wrong with the world.

It made him absolutely livid.

Before he knew it, Will was caught in brawl with the older teenager while people cheered and hollared in the background. All Will saw was red. He hardly felt the punches that were dished out at him. His main focus was just hurting Alda. And at first he was succeding. Until two people suddenly jumped in and together they all ended up overpowering Will.

He started feeling the pain then, but even then Will kept fighting. Spewing insults and colorful language as he continued to fight with everything he had.

Suddenly, Horace was yanking him to his feet and shouting with an anger that surpassed Will's. Looking around, Will noticed that the fight somehow ended up moving towards the parking lot and away from the school.

Before Will could process anything else, he was suddenly being pulled along as Horace began running. Will's body had screamed in protest and tried telling Horace to slow down but it fell on deaf ears. Turning back towards the school, Will found out they were running because teachers were coming outside and into the parking lot due to the commotion.

Thus was how Will ended up in their house's bathroom, beaten and bruised and having a screaming match with his brother. The only saving grace was that Natalie was still at work.

Oh, the joys of life.

"That's just how it is Will! It's a toughening up process!"

Will let out a laugh. It wasn't joyful or anywhere near amusement. It was harsh and cynical. "Toughening up process? Is that what you really think it is? If that's so then were going to have to ask mom if you were ever dropped on the head as an infant because this is bloody ridculous!" Will shouted, completely fed up with Horace's stupidity. He might've been the oldest but he wasn't the brightest.

Horace's face flushed angrily and his fist clenched into fists. This didn't go unnoticed by Will. "Oh? You going to fight me now too, hm? Then take your best shot bro, I still got some energy left." Will growled. Horace scoffed and rolled his eyes.

"Screw you."

"Right back at you, dumbo."

The two both sat in a tense and angry silence. Horace stared at the floor while Will tossed the bloodied tissue he'd been using to stop his bleeding nose into the trash bin. The shorter brunette sniffed slightly and winced. Mentally he groaned. He so hoped he didn't have a broken nose. Exhaling softly, Will glanced at Horace who was still ignoring him.

Will felt guilt stab him in the stomach. He wanted to apologize but he also needed Horace to see what was going on was wrong. Finally, after racking his brain for ideas, Will said:

"Then what about me?"

Horace faced Will with a look of surprise and confusion. "What?" He grunted. "What if it was me? If I had joined the rugby team and Alda was 'toughening me up' how would you feel?" Will clarified.

Horace frowned at the mental image. Just thinking about Alda and his goons hurting Will again made his blood boil. He opened his mouth to tell Will those exact thoughts when it finally clicked. Horace let out a humorless chuckle and ran a hand through his hair. He gave Will a small grin.

"Alright, you win." Horace admitted, causing Will to smile only to wince as it made his face ache sharply in pain. Horace noticed and briefly left the room only to return a few minutes later with a bag of cold broccoli and placed it gingerly over the more brusied side of Will's face.

"Thanks," Will said, holding the bag to his face as Horace let go. "No problem." Horace responded. "And I'm sorry. About everything." Will continued. Horace let out a huff of laughter. "Don't sweat it, man." The eldest responded, ruffling Will's wild curls.

"Just don't go starting fights for me, 'kay?"

Will gave him a tired smile. "No can do. We're brothers and that means we gotta have eachother's backs, even if we don't want it." Will replied. Horace blinked a couple times before smiling and raising his fist. Will raised his own and they fist bumped.

"Brothers for life?"

"Forever and always I'm afraid."

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 **This was my first one-shot! Hope you all enjoyed and I hope I wasn't out of character.**

 **Read & Review!**


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